


The Thirsting Hero

by Bentarb



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29634177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bentarb/pseuds/Bentarb
Summary: One hundred years ago, Calmatiy Ganon rose to destroy Hyrule. One hundred years ago, Link the hero chosen by the Goddess was placed to heal in the Shrine Of Resurection. What if his resurection turned him into a creature of the dark? What if it left him with a demonic thirst?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter One

Darkness.

Empty, endless, darkness.

That was all the man could see. He was alone, and frightened, and thirsty. But then, there was something else.

A bright light began to shine above him. Then something else, a sound.

 _“…Open your eyes…”_ A voice. The light engulfed his vision. _“Open your eyes…”_ the voice said again, clearer this time. It belonged to a girl. _“Open your eyes. Wake up Link.”_ Link… that was his name the man realized. He awoke with a pained gasp and found himself laying down, his body nude save for a pair of underwear and a brown leather belt with hooks and pouches, surrounded by a glowing liquid that drained away into the stone floor.

 _‘Thirsty,’_ was the first thing Link thought as he painfully made himself sit up. He dragged himself off the strange alter, barely registering the large room he was in. It was made of carved stone, there were patterns on the walls and a glowing thing above the stone bed. Across from Link as he stood up was a dais of some kind, its surface adorned with patterns glowing blue. He slowly walked over to examine the dais and as he approached, it flashed in seeming recognition. A circle in its middle rose up, rotated and offered up a rectangular object with a handle on one end and a carving of an eye with a single tear.

 _“That, is a Sheikah Slate,”_ the voice informed Link. The voice sounded so familiar to him, but he couldn’t tell who it belonged to, he was so _thirsty_. _“Take it,”_ the voice continued. _“It will help guide you after your long slumber.”_ The voice was barely clear within Link’s mind.

 _‘Thirsty,’_ was all he could think, his throat was _so dry_. _‘So thirsty, must drink.’_ Obeying the voice, his only companion since awakening, Link grabbed the Sheikah Slate his hands feeling sluggish and heavy. As he turned it over, the other side lit up showing the same weeping eye symbol as on the back, and some small part of Link’s mind said that this item was familiar and important. The centre of the dais turned round and retracted back into place as a door opened, rising into the ceiling. Link staggered through it, tripping on his own feet. He literally stumbled into a stone chest and moved around it, wanting only to leave this place, he _needed_ to drink.

After fumbling to use the slate on another pedestal – almost dropping it from his hands – to open a second door, he reached the entrance to the cave he had awoken in, and walked out of it. He shielded his eyes from the sun, its’ light seeming to offend him somehow. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a world of grey. The trees below the cliff face he stood atop, the grass beneath his feet, and the strange swirling far off in the distance, all of it was grey. The voice spoke to Link again, but he couldn’t understand what it was saying to him, the words overridden by the overwhelming need to _drink_.

Link turned his attention to his right and saw a person stood down the hill. The person went back to a camp of some kind and Link started moving towards them.

* * *

All this was being watched by an old man with a vast white beard, a large nose on his face and a walking stick in his right hand. He looked on with worry as the young from the cave moved towards him in nought but underwear. His movement was unrefined and he tripped over his own feet a few times before reaching him. Once the young man was in the old man’s little camp, he saw that the person before him was visibly unwell. His skin was grey like a corpse, his eyes were emptily looking at nothing, and his mouth hung slightly open.

“Young man, are you all right?” the old man asked, worried for the blonde that stood before him. The blonde didn’t seem to really see the mans hooded face, instead looking through him. A few seconds passed before the younger man spoke.

“…thirsty,” was all he said, voice course like his throat was lined with sand. The old man then grabbed a canteen from his belt, removed the cork, and presented it to the blonde who didn’t respond. Not knowing what else to do, he placed the canteen against the blonde’s lips. The blonde then gripped it with shaking hands, took a mouthful of the contents, and violently spewed it back out as if the water were burning poison. He then walked pass the old man and down the hill.

“Young one!” the old man called after him, gaining no reaction. “Where-where are you going?”

* * *

Link didn’t hear the man calling for him as he stumbled down hill, his grey world telling him only that he was _thirsty, thirsty, so THIRSTY._

Soon he came across another being. It’s large head was round with large flapping ears and crowned with a single horn, and it held a wooden club in one hand. The creature’s triangle snout twitched as it sniffed Link. It then raised it’s club but before it could swing, Link darted forward, placed his mouth around the creature’s neck, and bit down. As sharp fangs punctured skin, as crimson liquid of life filled Link’s maw and his thirst began to sate, images with colour and sound played through his mind.

The images were disjointed, playing in no apparent order. Link saw glimpses of animals being hunted, dances around a fire with other beings and people screaming as they were chased and attacked. As the blood ran dry and the last of the images ended, Link lifted his head and gasped, his thirst finally quenched and colour entering his world. Only then did he take in the sight of the creature that lay dead before him. He had only a brief second to look at the corpse – life ended by his action – before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a horn and club behind.

“Young man,” a voice said behind Link, making him whirl round and see the older man he had passed stood looking with an expression of shock. Evidently he had followed him and saw what he did. “What… what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Link answered truthfully. He then began to panic as he realized he didn’t know anything. He brought a hand up to his mouth, feeling his blood soaked lips as he began to shake in horror. “I… I don’t know, I don’t know, I DON’T KNOW!” he yelled as tears filled his eyes and he began to weep. The old man approached his shaking form and wrapped his arms around him in a bid to offer comfort, as Link repeated the mantra of ‘I don’t know’.


	2. Chapter Two

Link now sat at the camp of the old man, who had introduced himself as Rhoam. Now that he could look at the man without being distracted by thirst, Link saw that something was off about him. Sat by a campfire with a blanket on his shoulders, wearing naught but the underwear he awoke in, he couldn’t help but think there was more to the man than he let on. But Link didn’t really have the time to worry about that right now, he had more pressing matters.

“Let me just go through this once more,” Rhoam said, sitting across from Link. “You woke up in a shrine of some sort at the top of that hill.”

Link nodded.

“The first thing you heard was a woman’s voice telling you to wake up, and calling you link.”

Link nodded again.

“The only thing you could really feel upon awakening was a maddening thirst, sated when you drained that Bokoblin of it’s blood.”

A third nod.

“And you have no memory what so ever of anything before then. Have I got it right?”

“Yup,” Link answered. There wasn’t really anything else he could say. He took a bite out off a baked apple, glad to find he could eat normal foods without being sick now that he had sated his thirst. He wanted to get the taste of blood out his mouth.

“Well this… is quit a situation,” Rhoam surmised. He sat thinking for a bit before sighing. “Very well. Allow me to help you as best I can, young one. First, I shall tell you where we are.” He got up and walked over to the cliffside opposite his camp, Link following after him letting the blanket fall on to the log he sat on. “This, is the Kingdom of Hyrule,” Rhoam said, gesturing grandly with his walking stick. “More specifically, The Great Plateau. According to legend, this was the birth place of the Kingdom.”

Now that thirst no longer flooded his mind and his eyes could perceive colour, Link could see that Hyrule was indeed a wondrous sight to behold, even if the sunlight seemed to aggravate him. Green grass and trees stretched over the horizon. Rhoam then pointed towards a ruined building of some kind in down hill from where they were.

“That ruin is The Temple Of Time, once a place of worship and ceremony. Now an abandoned shell.”

“What happened?” Link asked.

“A great disaster came to Hyrule one-hundred years, destroying much of the land,” Rhoam answered sadly. “Since then the land has been a shadow of its’ former self. But the Temple is not where I think you should go right now.” Rhoam pointed in another direction. “Go in that direction until you reach the cliff that marks the Plateaus’ border. Around there you will find a rock formation, inside of which is a pedestal called a Guidance Stone. Use your Sheikah Slate on it then I will tell you more.”

Link wanted to ask Rhoam for more information about Hyrule, if he knew who made the Sheikah Slate and the shrine he woke up in. It was clear that the outdoors man knew more than he was letting on, but Link was tired right at that moment. The sunlight seemed to actively be tormenting him and he didn’t feel like making the hike in a vague direction, towards a vaguely described rock formation.

So, finishing his apple, Link looked at Rhoam and said, “I’ll do it tonight. Right now I need to sleep.” With that, he began walking back up the hill towards the shrine taking the blanket with him.

“Young man,” Rhoam called. Link turned to see the older man looking at him in a confused manner. “Are you sure you should wait? Whatever’s going on, don’t you think-”

“I can’t do _anything_ until the suns gone down,” Link interrupted grumpily. “The damn things messing with my head. Whatever’s happening, it can wait.” With that, Link wasted no time in going back to the sanctuary of the cave, paying no mind to Rhoam.

* * *

Upon returning to the shrine, Link decided to open the chest he stumbled into on his way out. Inside he found a tattered shirt, a ragged pair of trousers, and some old shoes. The clothes were ratty and a tad ill fitting, but he decided it was better than nothing. Once he was dressed, Link decided to explore the shrine, partly out of curiosity, partly because he wanted to procrastinate going back into the daylight. He didn’t know why but while the sunlight made him uncomfortable, the cold dark cave made him feel safe. He was also able to take in the details of the shrine now that he could see in colour and focus on something other than thirst.

The walls of the shrine seemed to be made from black stone supported by intricately carved pillars made of something sandy in texture, and decorated with constatations made of glowing blue lights, connected by golden lines. The place was illuminated by blue wall lamps shaped like water drops. The alter Link woke up on seemed to be designed to seal like a coffin, with the chandler like construct that was its’ lid appearing to be on some kind lifting mechanism. Link felt inclined to examine it closer, and saw a strange shimmering light with small leaves flittering about on the alter.

 _‘What's that?’_ he thought as he got closer. When he reached out to touch the shimmering, it suddenly changed with a puff of smoke into a small creature of some kind, making Link jump back in shock. The creature seemed to be made of wood with a mask made to look like a leaf. It held a small stick with berries on the end in one hand, and made a tingling sound as it appeared.

“Ya-ha-ha! You found me!” it laughed before pausing, as if something wasn’t right. “…huh, you’re not Hetsu!”

To that Link could only reply, “What are you and who is Hetsu?”

“I’m a Korok,” the creature explained. “And so’s Hetsu. We are the children of the forest. But you can… see me?”

“…am I not meant to?” Link asked, confused about why being able to see this Korok was apparently strange. He was confused about a lot of things right now already, so he didn’t need something else to try and work out.

“I didn’t know your kind _could_ see us,” the Korok explained. “Well, if you run into Hetsu, please return this to him.” He, possibly she for all link could tell, then handed over a small golden seed of some kind with a distinct smell. “Oh, and my friends are hiding in lots of different places too! Don’t be shy about poking your nose into lots of suspicious places!”

“Sure,” Link answered a tad unsurely, putting the seed into a pouch on his belt. “But I need to go to sleep right now, and you’re floating above my spot. So could you move please?”

“Oh! Okay. Sorry,” the Korok said as it scuttled away, allowing Link to lay down upon the bed of stone. It was about as comfortable as it appeared, but nonetheless, Link laid himself down, closed his eyes, and willed himself to sleep.

* * *

_Link was observing a Castle. Around it swirled a dark energy of black and purple, and from within it came a quiet voice._

_“Link…” it called, and Link realised it was the same voice as the one he first heard upon awakening. Suddenly the energy around the castle coalesced into the form of a giant boars head that climbed up the central spire and let out a roar upon reaching its’ top. As it roared, a bright light, one that even in a dream made Link recoil and shield his eyes, shined forth from the castles’ centre making the beast dissipate. The energy still swirled, seemingly with more vigour then before. “Remember,” the voice said. “Try… try to remember. You have been asleep for the past one hundred years.”_

_‘One hundred years!?’ Link thought, his eyes going wide. ‘How? Is that even possible?’_

_“And now…” the voice continued, either not hearing Link’s question or just choosing not to answer. “…now you have changed. You are not the same as you once were, but even as a creature of the dark, you are still Hyrules’ light._ Our _light. When the beast regains its’ power, it will be the worlds end. You are our only hope!”_

_The light returned, growing larger and brighter until it consumed Link’s vision. Then a face made of shadows burst from it, mouth wide open, sharpened fangs getting closer and closer until–_

Link awoke with a start, bolting upright in panic. Then he realized, it was a dream. Just a dream. He _hoped_ it was _just_ a dream. He looked around and saw that he was still in the shrine. The Korok from before had fallen asleep by the pedestal. Link got to his feet, stretched his arms, and walked out the shrine. But as he got the outer door, the voice returned.

 _“Link,”_ it said. _“Use the map on the Sheikah slate. It will show you where to go.”_

“Anything else?” Link asked to the open air, somewhat annoyed at the voice for telling him what to do while explaining nothing to him. He was answered with silence. With nothing else to do, Link took the slate off his belt. It was easy to figure out how to reach the map screen, even though it couldn’t really be called a ‘map’. It was just a black screen with blue lines forming a grid pattern over it. The only things showing up on it were a yellow arrow that Link presumed was him, and a flashing yellow dot.

“So go to the yellow dot, find the Guidance Stone, and do something,” Link said to himself, annoyance in his tone as he put the slate back onto his belt. “How delightfully vague.” As he left the cave, his annoyance faded somewhat as he beheld the plateau at night. In the cool air beneath the stars, Link felt… powerful. The stars shined bright and clear, the sky between them showing him an array of colours. He continued walking until he reached a cliff edge across from the cave entrance, and beheld a view that either he could not see in the light of the sun, or failed to notice in his yearning for the perceived sanctuary of the shrine.

In the distance was a mighty volcano, its glowing lava a luminous orange contrast against the night sky with something large moving across the surface. To the right of it were a pair of snow capped mountains reaching towards the sky, that looked to have once been a single mountain split in half. And to its’ left… to its left was the castle from Link’s dream. The same dark energy swirled around it casting a malevolent light contrasting harshly against the colours of the night shy. Even so Link felt drawn to it, he felt as though the secrets of who he is would be revealed to him if he went there.

 _‘Focus, Link,’_ he thought. _‘One thing at a time. Find Guidance Stone, do something, move on.’_ And so he set forth, jogging down the hill passing by the now empty camp. As he passed it, Link noticed a note attached to the log that upon reading he found to be written by Rhoam.

 _‘Link, take anything you think you’ll need. I have no use for anything here. Rhoam,’_ it read. Link read through the note and decided to do just that taking everything there. This included a pair of baked apples, a wood cutter’s axe, and a torch. The torch was something he briefly debated on believing that with his eyes he had no need for light, but deciding that he may need the warmth of fire in his travels. It was here that he realized the pouches on his belt seemed to work by their own logic, as not only was the torch able to fit inside one of them despite being far too large for it, it also seemed to lose all weight it had in his hand, while the axe he put on his back didn’t.

 _‘Uh, interesting,’_ Link thought before continuing down the hill. He soon reached a fountain – marvelling at his speed – and paused to take in his surroundings. He tried to imagine the place as it may once have been; a bustling town square with shops selling their wares, people going about their daily lives, and the fountain giving a flow of clear bubbling water. His musing was cut short when a pair of skeletal arms burst from the ground in front of him, the rest of the body following after. Even without flesh, Link knew this was a deceased relative of the Bokoblin that had attacked him before.

He stepped back, placed his hand on the axe handle, readied for a fight, and was surprised when the attack he expected never came. Instead the skeleton just looked at him for a second and walked away, grabbing a glowing insect of some kind from the air and placing it in it’s mouth to eat only for said insect to fly straight back out through the back of the skull. As grateful as Link was that the skeletal creature before him held no ill intent unlike it’s living relative, he was somewhat confused as to why. As he watched the undead Bokoblin sit down on the ground and look towards nothing particular, he noticed some sort aura around it, one that seemed familiar. Link thought for a second about where he had seen this aura before, when his eyes widened in realization.

 _‘Rhoam,’_ Link thought, his mind reeling. _‘I saw this aura around Rhoam. But this skeleton is dead. So if Rhoam has the same thing, than that means…’_ He cut himself off with a shake of the head. He could confront the old man about his place among the dead later. For now, he had a task to complete, and complete it he would. Resuming his pace Link quickly found himself nearing the point indicated on his ‘map’, but between him and his goal were a trio of very living Bokoblins. He crouched down in the grass to avoid being seen and evaluated the situation.

The Bokoblins were on a raised mound, with two of them being closer to Link’s position and the third being further back past them. The one that was further away was sleeping right by the rock formation that Link had to reach and looked to be have a sword and shield by it’s side from what he could tell, while the other two were awake and armed with bows. Link decided it would be better to take out the archers first before moving on to their sleeping comrade. How he was going to do that however, he didn’t know; the grass didn’t go all the way around the mounds and there was nothing he could hide behind as he approached. His hand found a pebble on the ground, and he knew just what to do.

He picked up the pebble and threw it to the Bokoblin’s left. It impacted on a small rock and made a noise as if something had broken on impact, making them turn quickly to look for the source. Link, keeping low, dashed in the other direction and up the mound putting himself behind one of the Bokoblins within a second. The moment he was in position he drew his axe, lifted it above his, and brought it down with all his might onto the back of the creature’s skull. The axe blade got half-way through it’s torso before stopping. Link didn’t pull it out, instead grabbing an arrow, dashing forward and ramming it into the side of the second ones head and into it’s brain.

The second Bokoblin spasmed for a moment before falling to the ground and – poof – vanishing in a cloud of smoke like its fellow. Link picked up one of bows – though it could hardly be called that, being no more than a stick with some string – and put it on his back before grabbing his axe and turning to look at the third one. It was still asleep and Link wasted no time in running forward, ready to make sure it never woke up. He underestimated his own speed however and instead tripped over the sleeping form, slamming himself into the ground and waking his target with a start. The Bokoblin was able to gather itself but not before Link got back to his feet and swung the axe sideways into it’s torso. It stopped halfway through when the handle broke.

Link looked at the splintered piece of wood in his hands. As annoyed as he was at the loss of his weapon, he was quick to shrug it off as he dropped the remains and picked up the sword and shield his foe had left behind. Holding the sword in his right hand and the shield in his left, he gave them a few swings. The shield was round and wooden with a metal rim and centre, while the sword was about as unremarkable as could be imagined with its’ straight dual edged blade and straight metal cross guard. Swinging the sword around it felt… familiar to Link.

_He was in an arena, another man stood before him wearing metal armour, people watched, dodge, approach, strike–_

Link stopped swinging the weapon in shock. He looked at the blade.

 _‘Was… was that one of my memories?’_ he asked himself. _‘Later, ’_ he then thought to himself as he put the sword and shield on his back. _‘Finish task now, have crisis later.’_ He turned back to the hollow rock formation and went inside. He saw the Guidance Stone he was told about, finding that it was the same as the plinth where he had found the Sheikah Slate to begin with, albeit the patterns glowing orange instead of blue and with a stone growth pointing towards it from the roof.

“Place the Sheikah slate in the pedestal,” said a voice from the stone structure. Confused at how a piece of stone could talk, Link nonetheless did what he was told and put the Sheikah Slate in the Guidance Stone and watched as it flipped over so the screen was facing him and was retracted into the pedestal. The eye symbol looked at him for a second, before there was beeping sound and the voice came again.

“Sheikah Tower activated,” it said. “Beware of falling rocks.” That made Link concerned.

 _‘Why would I need to-’_ Before he could finish his thought however, the ground began to shake and rumble violently, knocking him from his feet. _‘What's happening!?’_

That panicked thought was shared by the birds that took to the sky, the beasts that ran in fear, and the monsters that looked around in bewilderment as the rock formation Link was in exploded outwards and from the ground rose a mighty tower reaching towards the clouds. And all across Hyrule, other such towers did the same, the eye symbol at their tops glowing blue as their centres glowed orange. Mounds of snow, heaps of rock, and litres of water fell from the rising structures before they stopped.

The tower Link was on turned from orange to blue as Link himself laid on the floor, a single question in his mind.

_‘What. The. Fuck?’_


	3. Chapter Three

Link laid on the floor for a few seconds to make sure the sudden earthquake was done. When he was content that he wouldn’t be knocked from his feet again, he got back up and dusted himself off. He glanced around and saw that he was now several hundred feet in the air, atop a tower that he felt certain wasn’t there to begin with.

“Distilling local information…” said the Guidance Stone, at which point, the growth which Link now could see was in fact part of the tower and he now realized, _was_ the actual Guidance Stone, became covered in glowing blue runes. The runes slid down towards the recurring eye symbol at its bottom, forming into a drop of glowing blue liquid that grew in size before falling onto the slates screen with a small ‘splash’ sound. Link looked closer at the screen. The Sheikah Eye as he supposed it must be called, flashed before fading away and showing the map screen. It zoomed in on a section of the ‘map’ which sent out a pulse across the screen, and turned from black screen with straight lines into an actual map.

Link marvelled at what he was seeing. Within the revealed area were a mountain, bodies of water, the Temple Of Time that Rhoam told him about, and a trio of symbols; two blue, one orange. One of the blue symbols was obscured by the yellow arrow that was Link, so that must have been the Tower. The other blue one looked like it could represent an entrance of some sort, and he suspected it was the cave he woke up in, but he couldn’t tell what the orange one was.

“Regional map extracted,” the slate said, before the pedestal flipped it over and lifted towards Link who put it back on his belt. When looked around, Link found the view from his new vantage point to be truly spectacular. The sights he beheld were both wonderful and strange. Looking past the castle, he saw in the distance the shape of a large bird, that moved through the night sky without flapping it’s wings. Somewhat closer was a black stone structure giving off an orange glow. The orange marker on the map he concluded.

He also saw another tower like the one he stood upon had grown out the ground in the distance towards the twin mountains, but that one was glowing orange like the structure in the monster camp instead of blue. After taking in his surroundings, Link decided to climb back down. Descending a series of platforms that went in a helical way down the sides of the tower, he quickly got to the ground where he heard Rhoam’s voice calling him.

“Ho!” the man called, and Link turned to see him gliding towards him. He was holding a wooden frame above his head that was supporting a large piece of cloth. Once Rhoam had landed Link was able to get a good look at him, and in his calmer state under the night sky he saw that yes, the old man had the same aura as the skeleton he had encountered at the fountain. The was a slight difference in that he had dim green-blue flames, but there was no doubting the truth; Rhoam was dead.

“Well, I guess you managed to activate the Guidance Stone,” Rhoam said, looking at the tower.

“Yes,” Link replied, not taking his eyes off the now confirmed dead man. While he knew for certain now that Rhoam was dead like the skeleton, he was less certain about whether the man was corporeal. There was something… lacking about the old man.

“And you woke something up in doing so,” Rhoam continued, either unaware or uncaring of the way Link’s eyes rested upon him. “Other towers have appeared across the land. Tell me, has your Sheikah Slate changed at all?”

“Its’ map feature became an actual map,” Link answered as he took the Slate off his belt and brought up the map screen. “Before, it was just a lot of lines on a blank screen. Now, I can tell where things are, where I am. It even has the names places on it. At least for the Plateau, the rest of it is still blank.”

“The other towers will do the same for their region as well,” Rhoam explained, stroking his beard. “Reaching them however will be quite the task. The Great Plateau Is surrounded on all sides by sheer cliff faces. If one were to fall, no death would be more certain… or more foolish.”

“That wont be a worry for you though,” stated Link. He saw this as a brilliant opportunity to question the old man about his place among the dead. “Since, you know, you’re already dead?”

“Oh?” Rhoam questioned, raising an eyebrow at Link.

“I encountered a walking skeleton monster earlier,” Link began, pointing towards where he first met the walking dead. “It came out off the ground near the fountain. It looked like it was a Bokoblin, it didn’t attack me, there was a strange aura around it, and now I look at you without the sun messing with my head, I can see that you have a similar aura as well. You’re dead.” Rhoam merely looked at him for a few seconds before sighing.

“Yes Link,” he answered as he stopped trying to hide his true nature. The green-blue flames became more brighter, and he began to float a few inches off the ground. “I am indeed dead. I’m a ghost. And while you still have a physical body, you are dead as well,” he said, pointing at Link with his cane. Link’s eyes widened.

“I… I am?” he asked.

“Indeed Link,” Rhoam answered. “That is why the Stalkoblin you described didn’t attack.” Link stood staring blankly, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. He was dead. The voice had said he’d been asleep for one hundred years, so he must have died either in his sleep or just before. Which meant he had likely been dead for one hundred years, and anyone he had known was likely dead as well. He felt sadness, he felt confusion, he felt fear, and he felt anger. A cacophony of emotions were swirling and churning, and Link could only do one thing.

“What the hells going on!?” he snapped, making Rhoam dart back in shock. “I’m talking to a dead man! According to the voice in my head, I’ve likely been dead for a century, _and_ I’m meant to save the world! And _you_ -” He pointed at Rhoam “-clearly know more than you’re letting on, so fucking _tell me_! What’s going on!?”

“Link, you have to understand,” Rhoam pleaded, trying to calm Link down. “There is more going on than you know.” Only _after_ saying this did Rhoam realize it was a stupid thing to say.

“Of course there’s more going on then I know, you big nosed dick!” Link yelled, throwing his arms out in annoyance. “I have no memories! About anything!”

“And that’s why I can’t tell you yet,” Rhoam explained. “Yes, I know more than I’ve said. But your mind is in a fragile state. I can’t explain what’s happening. Not until I know you’re ready to handle it all, and what you’re planning to do once you know.” The two looked at each other in silence.

“The castle,” Link said after a few seconds, turning to look at the swirling vortex in the distance. “Something tells me that I need to go to the castle.”

“To get there you’ll need my Paraglider,” Rhoam stated. “You might not die from the fall, but you won’t get far on broken legs.”

“And I suppose I need to prove I’m ready before you’ll give it to me?” Link asked. Rhoam nodded in affirmation. “And how do I do that?” Rhoam gestured at Link to follow him and floated in the direction of the glowing structure.

“You see that Shrine over there?” Rhoam said, gesturing towards the structure Link saw from atop the tower. “That is one of four such Shrines that lay scattered around the Great Plateau. Go to each of the Shrines, complete whatever trials lay within, then come meet me at the Temple Of Time.” He turned to look at Link.

“Any information as to what I’ll find inside the Shrines?” Link asked.

“No,” Rhoam answered. “But I can tell you what I know of the Sheikah Slate. For one, it has a function that will allow you to zoom in on things in the distance and place markers on them.” He turned to look back at the tower. “Do that from atop the tower, and you should easily find the other Shrines. I believe it also has a function that allows you to teleport to Sheikah structures you’ve been to before.”

“Believe? Meaning you don’t know for certain?” Link asked.

“I’ve never used it myself,” Rhoam explained, turning back to Link. “All I know is what I heard about it when I was alive. Anymore questions?”

Link thought for a second, then asked, “Who are the Sheikah?” Rhoam just gave a smile and chuckled.

“You will be meeting them yourself in the future,” he said. “Now go. Complete the Shrines’ trials, and meet me at the Temple Of Time.” With that, he vanished from sight with a pop of blue light.

 _‘Uh, so ghosts can teleport,’_ Link thought. _‘Wonder if I can do that?’_ Putting that thought away, he looked towards the Shrine. There was a camp of Bokoblins towards his right as he looked at it, but he felt they would be easily avoided if he went around to his left. Besides there was a large pool of water in the way, and Link didn’t want to test if he could swim right now. Going back down the hill and around the pool he quickly found himself at the Shrine with company as two more Stalkoblins, both of which ignored him like the last one.

Stepping onto an extended part of the Shrine, Link saw a Sheikah Eye pedestal like the one where he woke up. Thinking that it opened up in the same way, he took the Sheikah Slate off his belt and held it screen down over the Eye which flashed blue in activation.

“Sheikah Slate confirmed,” the pedestal said, and the circle at the front of the shrine lit up. “Travel Gate registered to map.”

 _‘Travel Gate?’_ Link thought as he turned to look at it. _‘Rhoam said the Slate could be used to teleport to Sheikah structures. This must have something to do with it.’_

“Access granted.” As the pedestal said that, the orange lights on the Shrines’ lower half turned blue and rune covered rectangular blocks swung inwards. Having been told there would be a trial within, Link was a touch confused to see only a small dark chamber with a circular glowing platform.

 _‘The Shrine is pretty empty,’_ Link thought as he put the Slate back on his belt. _‘Maybe something will happen if I step on the platform.’_ Following his hunch, Link entered the Shrine, walked onto the Sheikah Eye on the platform and turned around. As soon as he did, a ring of blue light flashed up from the circle edge and the platform began to descend, taking Link down a long, long shaft.

* * *

Link didn’t know how far he was being taken, but was relieved when his descent finally ended. When the platform reached the bottom of the shaft, he stepped forward and was greeted by a voice entering his head.

 _“To you who sets foot in this shrine…”_ it said, and Link noticed this to be a male voice, not the girl he had heard before. _“I am Oman Au. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial. The Magnesis Trial.”_

When the voice had gone, Link took in the room he was in. It was a square room with sharp corners and walls made from the same black material as the shrine he woke up in, complete with blue tear drop lights and orange constellations. The floor was made from large square tiles of sandy colouration, save for the centre. The centre of the floor had two massive rectangular metal sheets laid flat down. Across from the shaft was a wall of bars through which Link could see another room with much of its’ floor missing, showing a hollow space underneath.

The sound of running water beneath the floor could be heard clear as day, and in the far corner to Link’s left, was a Guidance Stone and pedestal. Seeing nothing else to do, he walked over to the Guidance Stone and placed the Sheikah Slate in the pedestal. Once the Slate had flipped over and turned round to face the right way, the Guidance Stone spoke.

“Sheikah Slate authenticated,” it said. “Distilling rune…” It then made the same blue liquid tear drop as the one atop the tower, splashing it down onto the Slate. “Rune extracted.” Link inspected it and saw a screen with six squares, one of which had been filled with the image of a pink horse shoe shaped object.

Beneath it was a description that read, ‘Magnesis. Manipulate metallic objects using magnetism. Objects held in the magnetic snare can be lifted and moved freely’.

 _‘I have no idea what ’magnetism’ is,’_ thought Link. _‘Wait, maybe…’_

“Voices!” he called aloud. “Can you tell me what ‘magnetism’ is?” No response. “Guess I’ll have to figure it out myself,” he said, as he retrieved the Slate from the pedestal. Turning back, Link looked at the slabs on the floor and thought on the runes description.

 _‘“Manipulate metallic objects”. Can’t I lift them myself?’_ he wondered. Knowing there was only one way to find out, he walked over to the closest slab and readied himself to lift. Bending his knees and slipping his fingers underneath, he counted to three and focusing every ounce of power he could in a single burst, threw the slab up and away. It flipped over width ways once, twice, then fell onto the other slab with a loud CRASH. Link stared for a few moments, arms raised above his head and marvelled at his strength.

 _‘Well,’_ he thought, a smile forming on his face. _‘I’d say I’m pretty strong for a dead guy.’_ Lowering his arms, Link looked down into the now exposed corridor with its’ stream of water and jumped down rather than using the ladder. Landing with a soft thud, he followed the water flow towards some stairs leading up into the next room. Dividing the room was a wall of giant loose blocks, one being metal with the rest made of rock.

 _‘Wonder if I could climb them?’_ he wondered. Then he thought, _‘You know what? Oman probably put a lot of effort into making this trial. Might as well do some of it how I was meant to.’_ That decided, Link took the Slate off his belt, held it up and tried to figure out how it worked. Bringing up the Runes screen and tapping a finger on the Magnesis Rune, causing the square to become highlighted. It showed the description but didn’t tell Link how to use the Rune, so he just held the Slate screen towards the giant metal cube and willed it to activate.

He didn’t expect it to actually work and was pleasantly surprised when an orb of glowing energy shot out from the screen towards its’ target, connecting the Slate and block. Gripping the Slate with both hands, he pulled the metal block out of the wall making the stone one above it fall into its space with a loud thud. Lowering the metal block to the floor and deactivating the Rune, Link climbed up and saw on the other side a… well it looked like some creature, only it’s body seemed to be made from the same stuff as the Shrine. It’s body was circular, topped with a domed head with a single glowing blue eye, and it stood upon three clawed legs.

“Um… hello,” Link called experimentally. “You friendly?” The thing started to glow orange, there was a humming sound as rings of blue light was drawn into it’s eye, and Link fell backwards as a bolt of energy fired towards him. “Not friendly! Not friendly!” he exclaimed as he landed back first on the ground and scrambled to his feet. “Okay Link. You can do this. Just jump over the blocks, run up to that thing, and show it who’s boss.” With that pep talk, Link took a few steps back, ran forward and leapt over the wall in a single bound.

He cleared the blocks with ease, and landed on the other side of his target. Whirling round he drew his sword, climbed atop it, and stabbed into the point between body and head. The creature whirled around franticly, trying to remove it’s unwelcome passenger as Link twisted his sword until a gap formed. Sparks flew from the gap as Link placed his hands within it and pulled with all his might.

It wasn’t long before the head was torn from it’s body, Link falling flat on his back as a flash of blue light burst forth and the creature vanished. In it’s place were a pair of small screws which Link picked up and examined in his hand.

 _‘A machine,’_ he realized. _‘It was a machine, made into a living thing.’_ Putting the screws in one of his pouches, Link continued the trial. Coming to a giant metal door, he used the Magnesis Rune to pull it open and saw a set of stairs leading up to a square cell of some sort with what looked like a person sitting inside it with a giant straw hat hanging on their back. walls were made of blue see through energy and when Link approached, he saw it had a Sheikah Eye pulsing slightly on the surface. He also saw that the person was sitting cross legged, held their hands together to form a triangle, and was dead.

He – or maybe she – didn’t have the same aura has Rhoam so they weren’t a ghost and they had grey skin, albeit grey and tight on their bones, so they weren’t like a Stalkoblin.

 _‘Maybe their the same as me,’_ Link wondered. _‘If they are, does that mean I could have become like this if I didn’t feed when I woke up?’_ Curious for answers, Link tentatively placed a hand on the pulsing eye causing it to flash away and the walls of the cell to burst apart in thin strands of light, as the body began to speak.

 _“You have proven to posses the resolve of a true hero,”_ the body said. _“I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of the Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those seek to destroy Ganon.”_

 _‘Good to know I’ll have some help,’_ Link thought.

 _“With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled,”_ Oman continued. _“But now you stand before me, I see that you are damned.”_

“What?” Link asked incredulously. “What do you mean ‘damned’?”

 _“You walk amongst the living, but there is no life within your body,”_ Oman explained. _“No hero before you has carried such a curse.”_

“Well how do I fix it?” Link asked desperately. “If being the walking dead is such a problem, then tell me how to fix it.”

 _“The path of Death can only be travelled in direction,”_ Oman answered _“The curse you carry can_ never _be removed. Nonetheless, you are still the Chosen Hero. So in the name of the Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you. Please accept this Spirit Orb.”_ A fist sized orb then appeared in front of the monk and floated towards Link’s chest. When the orb reached him, a burning sensation spread throughout his body. It wasn’t too painful, it was more like the burning one feels when placing their hand on a black metal object that’s been in the sun for awhile; not really agonising but just enough to know you shouldn’t do it for long.

 _“May the Goddess grant mercy upon you,”_ Oman said, before his body dissolved into thin wisps of blue light and floated away. When the last of the wisps had gone, Link’s vision turned white.


End file.
